Quarknet

Quarknet is a professional teacher development program launched in the mid-1990s, funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy. The goal is to involve high-school teachers and their students in state-of-the-art research that seeks to resolve some of the mysteries about the structure of matter and the fundamental forces of nature.

Quarknet is a nationwide network that also provides opportunities for participating science teachers to exchange knowledge and experience with their peers. Presently it has 60 centers at universities and national laboratories across the US. Each center acts as a mentoring "hub" for science teachers from several (typically anywhere from 5 to 15) high schools in the surrounding region. Teachers work on particle physics experiments during a summer and join a cadre of scientists and teachers working to introduce some aspects of their research into their classrooms.

It is envisaged to be a long-term program with each teacher staying involved for several years. Teachers receive a stipend for workshop attendance, equipment, training, and assistance to set up cosmic-ray detection apparatus at their schools. They share their data and results with fellow QuarkNet participants. For more information,visit http://quarknet.fnal.gov/.